And, after reading a few posts in the past few days on the health benefits of dandelions, I went out and harvested some from our yard, making our green smoothies today with 1 cup dandelion greens and 1 cup salad mix.

We are all loving this! This coming week, Brad and I will both be drinking 1L of green smoothies (containing 2 cups greens, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup plain yogurt, and about 2 cups of fruit) per day - Gwen drinks about 1 cup. Yep - that’s about 5 servings of fruits and vegetables … in ONE meal!

I figured it’s about time that I give a little potty update. After a great start to practicing natural infant hygiene and slowly getting better, I feel mostly like a NIH success story! I honestly didn’t believe this could work without a tonne of work.

And honestly?

After the first month or so, it feels like less work.

Although Gil doesn’t have a normal rhythm to his bladder/bowel habits - that I’ve consciously discerned, anyways! - we manage to catch quite a bit! He’s becoming good at signaling his needs and sometimes it’s very easy to tell that he needs to pee - he will often start fussing and otherwise show that he’s uncomfortable and if he’s nursng, he’ll pop on and off the breast. I continue to hold him over a potty (we have this one) during diaper changes as well a any time I intuitively feel he may have to go.

Some days I catch 10 or 12 pees and he goes hours without having a wet diaper. Other days I catch 1 or 2 and it seems like I’m always missing his cues. I probably miss 2 or 3 poops a week.

At night, Gil was soaking through both his (disposable!) diaper and sleeper nightly (sometimes several times per night) so I decided to abandon the disposable and go for cloth. When he starts stirring at night, I try to remind myself it’s either let him pee or change his diaper. Depending on how tired I’m feeling, I’ll potty him or change him if it’s too late. Often, he’ll settle right back down to sleep with no fuss if it was just the need to pee. If he’s hungry, he nurses pretty quickly and goes right back to sleep. I thought it was a bit impossible to think that babies don’t pee in their sleep, but now I know otherwise - Gil pees only when fully awake or when he’s stirring/fussing while in a very light sleep. In fact on a few separate occasions, he has slept 9:30 until between 3 and 5:30, waking to eat with a dry diaper! I’m amazed!!

Gwen is doing well too! We’re now at the point where she is ready to wear underwear at home and perhaps some wool underwear (like these) when we’re out of the house. Nights are a different story - she’s not waking up to tell us she needs to pee anymore - but that’s okay. It’ll come.

Today, Brad and I picked up a Magic Bullet from an ad on kijiji. I’ve been reading about the health benefits of green smoothies for about a month and talking with Brad about buying a blender. We decided that before we buy a really good blender, I should find something second hand and use it for a while - to see if we like smoothies! So, off I went and found a brand new $100 Magic Bullet set for only $40.

I whipped up my first batch of smoothies when we got it home - used a frozen berry mix, 1 cup yogurt, some water and orange juice and 2 leaves of Kale. It wasn’t too bad for my first attempt - we all enjoyed it … even Gwen!

Gil was kind enough to wake only once overnight and allow me a good stretch of sleep last night! Thanks, son!

This morning we were all up by 7:00 and opted to head out for breakfast to a local restaurant where I received a rose.

Right now, I’m being treated to an in-arms nap by my beautiful boy while listening to my husband read to my delightful daughter.

It’s times like these when I recognize that I am blessed beyond belief. The day-in and day-out of being an at-home mom isn’t always easy, but my goodness, it truly is an amazing gift.

To my mama, thank you for being there for me - through my childhood, but especially now in supporting me as a mother. Although I have, perhaps, chosen a different parenting style than you, I think we’ve both realized how similar we really are I’m so happy that my children are able to get to know you - that they are comfortable with you and enjoy spending time with you. I can’t ask for anything more! I love you, Mom!